From time to time, readers write to me with cooking questions, which I do sheepishly try to answer, reminding them that I'm pretty much a self-taught cook, and might be breaking all kind of kitchen rules. One question that I've gotten more than once is "Can I use bottled lemon (or lime) juice in this recipe?" to which my answer is an emphatic "NO!"

In my mind, the overly sour and artificial flavor of bottled lime or lemon juice is no substitute for the subtle, fresh, and slightly sour-citrus flavor of fresh lemon or lime juice.

However, keeping fresh lemons and limes around all the time can be problematic. Okay, if you live in Florida or California, or other warm parts of the world, you may be able to just quit reading now. But if you live in a place where fresh limes and lemons are not only hard to keep, but also very expensive at certain times of the year, then this tip for Freezing Fresh Lemon Juice and Lime Juice might be life-changing for you.

By freezing lemon and lime juice I manage to have a supply of almost-as-good-as fresh lemon and lime juice on hand at all times. I'm always on the lookout for a good deal on lemons or lime at the grocery store, but most of the year I buy those big bags at Costco, keep them in a basket on the counter, and then just before they're starting to go bad I have a juice-squeezing session.

At first this seemed so obvious to me that I wondered if it was even blog-worthy, but after I shared the idea with a few different women who told me it was brilliant, I decided others might also like hearing about it.

I cut the limes in half like the photo you see above, and use this citrus squeezer I got many years ago as a gift from my wonderful sister-in-law Lisa. (Edit 2015: I recently bought a Cuisinart Citrus Juicer and now I use that if I have a lot of fruit to juice, love it!)

A funnel is your friend when you're doing this job, because you don't want to spill any of the precious juice, especially from limes which can sometimes be surprisingly not that juicy.

Unless they're quite small, I cut the lemons in quarters, not only so they fit in the citrus squeezer better, but also so I can squeeze out every drop of juice. I love the way this squeezer catches the seeds!

Once again, the funnel is your friend for this job. Even with a funnel, it looks like I spilled some of the precious lemon juice on my cutting board.

And here's the reward for about 10 minutes of squeezing, or maybe more if you have to squeeze by hand. Lime and lemon juice will keep in the freezer for several months.

To use the juice, I try to let it thaw naturally by removing the bottle from the freezer an hour or so before I need it for a recipe and just letting it sit on the counter. When that doesn't work out, you can thaw in the microwave on a low temperature. Be careful not to let the juice get too warm when you're thawing it or the flavor starts to break down. (Edit, thanks to Michelle who asked in the comments about glass bottles in the freezer, which reminded me to caution you not to put the bottle with the frozen juice under hot water to thaw, or the glass may crack.)

You can also measure out the amount of liquid one compartment of an ice cube tray holds, freeze the juice in that, and then pop out the cubes and store in a ziploc bag. This method is especially handy because you already know how much one cube is, so no need to measure!

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I'm so doing this. I've been increasingly better about making/freezing stock, breakfast and lunch burritos, casseroles, etc. I need to do this though, and increase other non-ready to eat supplies in my freezer. I love my freezer - is that weird? :P

I joined an organic produce buying club last month, and 2 weeks ago our share included 10 lemons - which are now in the freezer in the form of lemon juice cubes - made a dozen - and a bag of lemon zest. Next time you squeeze your lemons or limes, zest them first, then freeze the zest!

Right now I have a version of your Red Kale and Onion Savory Breakfast Squares in the oven - though I used regular green kale (it was in my share last week) and put it in silicone muffin cups so it's more portable. I'll let you know how I like it! I'm back to SBD'ing it - this is Day 1 of Phase 1 - so far so good. I'd lost 35 pounds these last 2 years, 11 in the last 5 months, but was eating the wrong things and my blood sugar was way too high. SBD will help.

Hope you're surviving the budget messes in your school district. It's a mess here in California.

I'm the sister-in-law Lisa who gave Kalyn the lime squeezer! If anybody is interested, they can be purchased at any Mexican store. Also, if you're ever in Mexico, they are for sale at all the street markets for a few dollars. They are definitely worth the investment!!!!!!

Great idea, I'm definitely going to do this. Have you read the tip about microwaving a lemon for about 15 seconds before juicing it? It's supposed to double the juice and enhance the flavor. I haven't tried it yet so can't vouch for it personally, but I've read it from several reliable sources.

Hi Cyndi,I have zested the lemons first, but I find I don't use nearly as much frozen zest as I do frozen lemon juice. Good luck on SB. I'm retiring, so maybe I'm getting away from the budget dilemmas.

Hi Lisa,Now you know how much I love this squeezer. Thanks again for giving it to me. Use it all the time! Love ya!

Amy, we were writing our comments at the same time. I have tried the microwave trick when I let the lemons sit on the counter too long and they were getting dried out, and it did help. I haven't done it all that often though; probably just because I forget!

a great reminder as I forget about doing such things - and although I like the idea of freezing in ice cube containers - it has never occured to then store the iceblocks in a bag which would save room in my freezer - thanks!

I also love to freeze lemon and lime juice, but I have to admit to being lazy and putting the whole fruit into the freezer. I have separate bags for lemons and limes and have even tossed in a grapefruit or orange that somehow didn't get eaten in time. When it comes time for juicing I usually thaw them in the microwave. If you juice your lemons fresh, consider saving the rinds in the freezer and popping 1 or 2 halves into the cavity of a chicken or turkey when roasting. The flavor addition is very subtle.

Why the heck have I never thought to do this? I've always thought about buying those big bags of lemons and limes at Costco, but then remind myself that I'll never use them all in time. Now I can. Costco, here I come. Great tip!

Great idea & the ice cube trays work perfectly. I too have frozen citrus whole and it works great for when cooking pork for carnitas.I live in one of those sunny climates and believe me, when we've a surplus you've just got to find a way to keep the extras. Needless to say as well as freezing we've got marmalade,limoncello,preserved kumpquats and the list goes on...

This is a project my 10-year-old and I do frequently to keep citrus bought on sale. The ice cube tray is the best idea yet because of portion control. We also use them (frozen in fun shapes from trays we got at IKEA) in drinks for a little zip.

In addition to nuking the fruit for a few seconds to help get out more juice; after that roll it around on the counter with the palm of your hand applying a little bit of pressure. that helps break down the tissue and you can get a little more juice.

I appreciate the interest in this topic. However I can't let people leave links for other types of lemon juice and lime juice products, even when they're well intended. If I start to allow that, my comments will be over-run with people leaving "advertising" links.

Even though I live in a warm climate all year round, I still squeeze and store lime and lemon juice because when it is not in season the prices are outrageous and then there are times when it's scarce. Barbados imports limes and lemons.

While I totally agree that freezing fresh juice is best (and you can zest them first and freeze that too!) I also have to respectfully disagree about using bottled juice. If it is pure lemon juice there is really no noticeable difference, in my opinion! xoxo

Cynthia, would not have guessed that even in a warm climate, limes and lemons can be expensive.

Hilary, me too.

Katrina, don't waste those expensive lemons!

Lydia, love the idea of using the lemon "cubes" for iced tea!

FabFrugalFood, this changed my cooking life.

Rachael, I don't think I've seen the bottled juice that is pure lemon juice, so I'm talking about the ones that are artificial tasting. Will look for the pure lemon juice products, but haven't seen anything like that here.

good idea! I've done this before, too so that I wouldn't waste any lemons before going out of town. good to know I'm not the only super-frugal person! The juice comes in handy since my husband really likes homemade hummus.

I followed the link to your recipe for turkey and sweet potato soup, and since I have butternut squash on hand I was wondering do you think I could sub the squash for the sweet potato? Thanks, love your blog and recipes.

Thanks for confirming the use of the lemon squeezer. I've had one in my kitchen since my mother-in-law passed away ten years ago, but I wasn't sure what it was for. Also like to see that you, too, use glass in the freezer. I have lots of 4 ounce baby food jars, which is a great size, because my parrot loves the toddler hot dogs.

I also buy the big bags of lemons at Costco, and I can generally use them up before they start to spoil, but you can imagine how much lemon juice goes into one's diet at that rate! I've always got fresh lemons, but this is such a brilliant idea for when you run out of fresh or for when they are so expensive it makes your head spin. I'm off to juice some lemons!

::running and ducking:: I use a glass-bottled organic lemon juice from 'Santa Cruz' that is 'not from concentrate.' I am always adding to my drinking water and I find that it tastes fine. But for many things, fresh is always better.

Great idea to freeze freshly squeezed juice. I live in South Florida, so getting fresh limes this time of year is not a problem for me, and fresh lime juice is great, and right now not too sour either. I agree the bottled juice is very sour by comparison.

I love to make an iced green tea and add the juice of a whole lime, no sugar needed. It's about as refreshing as you can get in my opinion.

I juice oranges and grapefruits and fill up plastic juice bottles and freeze them - fresh juice year around!! I usually get tons of free oranges and grapefruits, especially if I am willing to pick them, twice a year. Live in AZ where there is an abundance of citrus trees! Just got a box of lemons today, so thanks for the tips on freezing lemon juice. We use it to make lemonade, so smaller containers will be better. Or I may just throw the whole fruit in the freezer:-)

Just found your lovely site while researching info about freezing fresh lime juice. I live in Orlando; last year planted a key lime (aka Mexican lime) tree that was small enough to fit in the my car's back seat. Miraculously it's 4 times the size now and has produced hundreds of delicious limes. Thought small, their flavor is intense with lots of juice. Thank you so much for your recipes & freezing tips which I'll include when I give them away to family & friends. Now there won't be any waste!

If you have a favorite lemon meringue pie recipe, just use a muffin tin to freeze premeasured amounts of lemon juice for your recipe. Once the juice is frozen, invert the muffin tin on your counter, lay a hot cloth on top of it until the lemon juice 'muffins' fall out, then throw them all in a zippered plastic bag to freeze for use later.

In trying to move to a more real/whole foods diet this post has come in handy. I used to buy the bottled "Real Lemon" brand of juice, primarily to put in my tea and for lemon water. I like the idea of using real squeezed lemon but the inconvenience of needing fresh lemons on hand was daunting. Now I'll be able to freeze it in the amounts I want, which will have the added benefit of cooling off my hot tea to a drinkable level quicker as I plop in a lemon ice cube. :)

Instead of using a jar, how about a ziplock bag? That way, you can store it flat in your freezer, and it should be pretty easy to break off a chunk of the frozen juice to use in a recipe. I haven't tried it yet, but it makes sense to me!

Great post Kalyn! I've been freezing citrus juices in ice cube trays then putting them into ziplock freezer bags for years. Each ice cube compartment holds about 2 tablespoons of juice; good for when you want to thaw just a prescribed amount. I LOVE your citrus squeezer!!! :-)

I freeze the juice from my Meyer Lemons from the back yard tree in ice cube trays and pop the frozen ones into freezer bags. The tree produces two crops of fruit a year and the juice lasts me from one crop to the next!

Love all these posts about freezing the lemon or lime juice. An interesting story about me making a lemon pie for this past Easter. This was the first time making it from scratch with natural lemons for the juice. My pie would not set and we all ate the pie with spoons..ha,ha. A friend asked me if I put too much lemon juice in it. I did, thinking it would be extra lemony. The pie did not set because of too much acidity. Who knew?

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